This invention relates to railcars and, more particularly, to single axle railcar trucks and railcars equipped with single axle trucks.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,775 discloses a fixed, single axle railcar truck that tends to be self-steering when negotiating curved track. This self-steering tendency is produced when the effects of centrifugal force cause the outboard ends of the truck axles to spread apart while simultaneously the inboard ends of the axles are drawn together. Consequently, the axles assume respective radial positions with respect to the curve until the centrifugal loading conditions are removed when the truck resumes straight line travel.
A principal object of this invention is to provide an improved single axle railcar truck that is self-steering in response to wheel creep forces, with or without centrifugal force self-steering effects.
Another object of this invention is to provide a swivelable single axle railcar truck that is self-centering.
Another object of this invention is to provide a swivelable single axle railcar truck that includes independently movable radius arms sprung from an overhead railcar body instead of the truck side frames.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a railcar that includes two single axle railcar trucks of the type just described.